Экспериментарий, Interactive science museum in Irkutsk, Russia

The Experimentary is a science museum in Irkutsk featuring over three hundred interactive devices and exhibits that explore physical phenomena. These installations were created by local scientists to enable visitors to conduct hands-on experiments and observe natural principles in action.

Konstantin Kravchenko, a biologist at Irkutsk State University, devised the concept in 2005, and the museum opened on 8 February 2008 under the Irkutsk Scientific Centre of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2017 it moved to premises in Akademgorodok. After closing during the 2020 pandemic, it reopened in July 2020 following a revision of its cooperation agreement with the centre and public pressure.

Science becomes tangible here through hands-on engagement rather than passive observation. Visitors of all ages explore how physical principles work in the real world by operating the devices themselves.

Access to the exhibits is straightforward and requires no prior knowledge to enjoy them. Plan enough time to move through the displays at your own pace and try the various stations hands-on.

Some of the most striking exhibits are those that make invisible phenomena visible, such as a device generating smoke rings or demonstrating plasma behavior. These installations give visitors moments where scientific abstractions suddenly become tangible.